STANDING UP FOR COMMON SENSE GUN REFORMS

I believe that we cannot accept violence in our communities as normal, nor can we accept any notion that we are powerless to stop it. It’s unconscionable that we can look back and remember Columbine, Sandy Hook, Orlando, Las Vegas, Parkland, and countless other tragedies, yet we cannot point to a single smart gun safety measure that Congress has passed in the wake of these horrific events. We must stand with the courageous students in Florida, Illinois, here in New Hampshire, and across the country who are organizing to ensure another community doesn’t experience such a senseless tragedy in the future.

There are critical steps we can take to curtail the more than 38,000 gun deaths that occur in our country each year, and here’s where we should start:

Institute background checks for all gun sales

Create a federal tracking system for attempted purchases by anyone prohibited from buying a weapon

Establish Federal Red Flag laws, which allow family members or law enforcement to seek a court order to temporarily restrict people's access to firearms when they show "red flags" that they are a danger to themselves or others

Ban the sale of high capacity magazines

Close “boyfriend loophole,” which allows people convicted of domestic violence to continue to own firearms in certain situations

Reinstate the Assault Weapons Ban to keep weapons of war off our streets

Close “Charleston loophole,” which allows people to purchase firearms if their background checks are not completed in three days

My Record

As a member of the NH legislature, I fought against attempts to pass open carry and opposed legislation to give gun makers legal immunity.

I have lived my entire life in a state known for its culture of hunting and responsible gun ownership. There is no need to choose between preserving that tradition and passing common sense gun safety measures that will allow us to live without fear of tragic gun violence. We can and must do both.